Aftermarket paint job will never be as good as the factory?

[Anonymous]

I am being told that an aftermarket paint job will never be as good as the factory by a few "knowledgable" friends. is this really the case?

My '78 GS400 has a maroon sort color and while it is stil decent I wanted to have it repainted this winter into a silver color including the sidepanels.

Assuming I get all work done at a reputable car paint shop, is there any reason that it will not look stock in terms of quality and durability?

My friends makes it look as though anything done after the factory will be rubbish no matter how well done?

Suggestions? Comments?

[Anonymous]

This is a tough one to answer. Every painter is different. My friend just got his car painted and it looks decent unless you know him well enough to take interest in the fine details. ie. From a few feet away it is great but up close you can see that there is some dust in the paint and there is some overspray. It isn't a mirror finish either, if you look down the side of the car you can see it's rough. This is called "orange peel." For a 1000$ paint job this is actually a really good paint job but it ain't good enough for a bike or a Rolls Royce. A high quality paint booth is essential in a good paint job, I was actually at an aircraft hangar where they built a paint booth to paint ONE helicopter.

Then there's the stock two tone vs. aftermarket 1 colour paint jobs. Are you going to get it pinstriped back to stock? Some people will discount a fantastic paintjob if it isn't totally OEM.

Steve

[gspaul]

There are some really good painter's out there,they will give you a better than factory finnish ( no matter where you live)You have to ask around.
A tradesman who take's pride in what he does will do a good job

[robinjo]

Aftermarket paint jobs can be much better then stock, but it will cost you, good painters know they are good and charge accordingly, cheap offers will usually reflect in the quality of their work, you can not do anything cheap (preparation, materials or spraying booth) with a paint job and not let it show. One color instead of two-tone and loss of any striping would lower the value of the bike if I was interested in buying it.

[Anonymous]

Don't necessarily assume that it is a reputable paint shop you have to go to especially for a bike. Ask your local bike shops I had many great recommendations. Also bicycle shops there are some very good custom shops that specialize in paint racing bikes (have your ever seen some of the details on the bikes in the tour de france) you may have to ship it to them though. I had a friend have his painted by an air brush specialist and it was unreal two fenders and the tank for $750.

[earlfor]

Part of my job description for many years was yacht painter. A skilled painter using quality materials with the facilities and equipment needed can do a better than factory job in every respect, every time. It will not be cheap though. :-) In deciding on a painter, ask for example of the work and if you can meet with a few previous customers and look at their vehicle.

Earl

[jimcor]

All these replies are correct.

I think you hang around some originality snobs, I can be one too . I admit it, I'm Jim and my paint is original.

No, a repaint can be and often is, more beautiful than original. I don't mind a few scratches and dings tho', they tell a story.

To each his own! Get that bike painted if it makes you happy!....but the 400 was a fairly low number run and is sought out as a collector which means ...

[Robert Corrie]

Do it yourself.Take your time.Do it "Right".Tell your "friend" he has no idea what he's talking about.

[Griffin]

One of my first gigs when I got into industrial sales was calling on all the body shops in the Twin Cities. I got to see firsthand how they did their work. Some did a fantastic job, some did just enough to pick up the insurance company's check.

Point being, there were about 10% of the shops that painted cars (and bikes and boats) with a better finish than they came from the factory with. Of course, they were never the ones referred by the insurance companies. That, as far as I am concerned, is the kiss of death for me when choosing a body shop. If they work directly with the insurance company "to better serve you", run, don't walk away from them. They are serving the insurance company, not you, and their end product shows it.

I'm going to have my restoration project GS700 painted this winter. I'm currently working with Reproduction Decals in Canada to make the stickers for me, and also researching body shops in the area. Things to look for:

- Do they have a ventilated paintbooth seperate from the rest of the shop? Some palces paint in a large garage bay where other work is going on. Big no-no.

- In their compressed air system, do they have an air dryer and coalescing filters? If not, they will get fisheyes from water and oil carryover, and try to buff them out.

- Is there any grinding or sanding in the same room where the paint booth is? If so, they'll have dust pebbles in the finish, no matter what kind of ventilation system they have. Once again, they'll get out the buffer to minimize the flaws.

As with anything else, body repair has become a big money industry with a lot of mediocre shops. They bid bottom dollar to curry favor with insurance companies. If you do your homework, you should be able to locate one somewhere that will give you the finish you want.

One nice thing about getting a bike painted, you can ship the parts across the country if you need to to get a good paint job. That's kinda tough with a car.

[rphillips]

Because a bike is so much smaller than a car, small flaws that will go almosty unnoticed on the car, will stand out big time on a bike, just because your eyes are concentrating on such the small area. I've seen bikes painted by excellent car painters, that didn't look that great. I would recommend trying to find someone who is known for, or has experience painting bikes. It's no problem for a good bike painter to make your bike look as good or better than new. I don't think the the "78" 400 has decals, but a local sign shop made the decals for my wife's "85" GS 550 ES, They're not exact, but close enough, it's very hard to tell they aren't original

[chuckycheese]

?

I don't think anyone has addressed this point. I checked on paint jobs at two body shops..both said the exact same thing. They said they could make it look beautiful but...that it wouldn't be nearly as durable as my 25 year old paint job. For instance, both said the "curing" that has taken place after so many years provides far better protection against spilled gasoline than anything they could ever do. I can't remember the last time I spilled gas on my tank...but I know I've done it.

As it turns out, my bike has always been kept inside when not in use and the paint looks unbelievably good. The reason I checked on it is because it has a chipped spot (dropped wrench ) which I was hoping to have fixed....that's what led up to the new paint discussion.

[Planecrazy]

Frankly, Chucky, I find it hard to believe that ANY carefully and properly done modern paint job wouldn't be significantly BETTER than any 25 year old job, if only because the technology going into the paint itself is significantly improved from what was available back then.

A perfect example of this is the quality across the board that you get with almost every new vehicle made, regardless of manufacturer. Also, the ability of modern body shops to exactly match paint color goes well beyond what was possible back then. Finally, the paint itself is more resistant to chemicals and UV sunlight than the old stuff was.

My opinion is this: If you are concerned with keeping the bike as original as possible (a collector's bike), than don't paint it at all. If you don't care about the "collector's" issue, then research a quality body shop (like others have suggested) and get ready for a paint job that will more than likely be significantly better than anything Suzuki was ever capable of back then...

Regards,
Steve 8)

[snark]

Dumb idea...Look for an Auto Body school in your area and see if the students can do it. I've seen some of the work that has come out of the schools and it is amazing. You normally will only pay for the materials and the students are usually hungery to show what they can do.

[Doze]

Today's top quality urethane paints are so much improved from what your bike has on it from the factory it's almost unbelievable. Find a painter that is skilled at doing bikes and will stand behind his work. You will be very happy with the results.
Doze.

[gsBert]

well, my front fender is red and needs to be repainted black to match my bike. my girlfriend is gonna do it for me, she has a ba in studio arts so im assuming she knows how to paint, and if it doesn't turn out allright, i figure i can always take the fender to a paint shop.

why don't you try that approach? if you try it yourself and screw it up, you can always have the local doctor fix it. just make sure you sand lots and lots and lots, spray with NO DUST in the environment and sand between coats of paint. use multiple coats (3 or 4 at least) and finish with a good clearcoat.